Big Ten announces conference-only schedule for all fall sports
The Big Ten Conference sent shockwaves through the collegiate athletics world Thursday, announcing it will adopt a conference-only season for all fall sports, including football.
“We are facing uncertain and unprecedented times, and the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, game officials, and others associated with our sports programs and campuses remain our number one priority,” the Big Ten said in a statement.
Big Ten Statement on 2020-21 Fall Season:https://t.co/KLjc4mA47h
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) July 9, 2020
The decision is meant to eliminate long distance travel and lengthy hotel stays, as well as help ensure teams are being correctly tested for the coronavirus in a universal fashion.
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren spoke to the Big Ten Network about the timing of the conferences’s decision and the most important factors that were involved.
“When you make these decisions, you just have to look at all of the issues, and one of the things that was most important to us was the flexibility of scheduling,” Warren said. “It’s much easier if we’re just working with our Big Ten institutions from a scheduling standpoint, from a travel standpoint, all of those issues that go into having our student athletes compete.”
“We made a vow early on that, first and foremost, we would put the health, the safety and the wellness of our student-athletes at the center of all of our decisions.”
Kevin Warren talks the timing of the @bigten‘s decision, and what comes next. pic.twitter.com/D0Y4GXXnAz
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) July 9, 2020
Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic broke the news, adding that “a lot of Power 5 athletic directors have brought up the fact that testing disparities across the board were going to be challenging for college football because you don’t want to put your athletes mixing with the population that is doing different things from a testing and protocol standpoint.”
She broke the news, and she’s here to discuss it.@NicoleAuerbach breaks down the @bigten‘s decision to play conference-only schedules this fall. pic.twitter.com/zrutllTNCG
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) July 9, 2020
The decision to play conference-only schedules this fall comes one day after the Ivy League announced that no sports will take place this fall, and anytime before the new year. The Big Ten is the first Power 5 conference to make an announcement of this type. However, many believe other conferences will likely follow suit.
“The reality is that the college football season is slipping away,” SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum said. “They can hold on hope, but if you look on what’s going on around the country, it is dreadful news.”
“The reality is that the college football season is slipping away.”@finebaum reacts to the news that the Ivy League has ruled out playing fall sports. pic.twitter.com/7U1JrUxC9p
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 9, 2020
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith went on record in saying that he is no longer “cautiously optimistic” about a college football season happening this fall. He also added that he is in favor of a 10-game conference football schedule.
“The biggest thing for us was just the opportunity for us to create the flexibility,” Smith said on a teleconference. “If we’re able to play in September and something occurs in late September or early October, we can pause. We can hit the pause button and provide a window of opportunity for our student-athletes not to be put at risk. We can move games. If we’re scheduled to play somewhere else and an outbreak occurs in that environment and that school has to shut down, then we can change games. The flexibility, I can’t say that enough, is significant.”
Gene Smith (@OSU_AD) is an optimistic man. He wasn’t so optimistic today.
He joins @BTNDaveRevsine to talk about his concern that there might not be a football season. pic.twitter.com/aUn7kt4QiK
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) July 9, 2020
The Big Ten added that student-athletes who “choose not to participate in intercollegiate athletics at any time during the summer and/or the 2020-21 academic year due to concerns about COVID-19 will continue to have their scholarship honored by their institution and will remain in good standing with their team.”
The Big Ten’s decision to only play conference games has a wide-spread effect across the entire nation. Notable non-conference football matchups that were scheduled to take place this fall include Michigan at Washington (Sept. 5), Ohio State at Oregon (Sept. 12), Penn State at Virginia Tech (Sept. 12) and Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame at Lambeau Field (Oct. 3).
Here are some notable non-conference @B1Gfootball games that will not happen due to the announced conference-only schedule in 2020: pic.twitter.com/N474anMVsn
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) July 9, 2020
However, there are still plenty of outstanding conference matchups on the schedule.
There’s still plenty of great @bigten football on the schedule this season ? pic.twitter.com/POIo4DCm23
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) July 9, 2020
